


Sky Tubes Are For Nine Year Olds

by NightingaleLost



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-16 08:26:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5821267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightingaleLost/pseuds/NightingaleLost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matt's dad takes him to Chuck E. Cheese to try and cheer him up, but things don't go as planned. Everything stinks, and the Sky Tubes are hell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sky Tubes Are For Nine Year Olds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sourgoat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sourgoat/gifts).



> My friend AJ really really wanted me to post this so there you go. Small ten year olds being ten year olds.

The Sky Tubes smell like gross cheese and sweat and feet and Matt has been crying for the last ten minutes. He’s left his cane and glasses with his shoes in the cubbyholes and all he’s got is his sleeves, wrapped over his hands because the hard plastic had begun to hurt five minutes ago. Everything smells and everything is echoing back and forth and back and forth and Matt doesn’t know how to get out of the tubes.

He’s not sure why he came up here but he hated it, he wanted out and he just wanted peace and quiet from the loud machine noises and screaming kids and the smell of old vomit and pizza grease and he _didn’t know_ why he thought he could find that up here. He was curled up in the little balcony with the fishbowl window; he could only just remember what it looked like from before last year. Matt wished he could see; somewhere below him was his dad and he wanted to just go home right now and wave for him to rescue him. Outside the small cubby kids passed back and forth, yelling and laughing as they trampled through the plastic. None of them paid the slightest bit of attention to the crying kid curled up by himself.

Matt sneezed, tears flowing again as he realized he was going to hate the smell of pizza for the rest of his life, stuck in these stupid tubes with no friends and no dad. How was he going to eat? What if he had to pee?

He jolted as a hand shook his shoulder. “Hey are you okay?”

Lost in the press of smells and sounds he didn’t notice someone squeezing their way into his cubby, and he pushed his face harder against the window, trying to get away. He smelled like pizza and Cheetos. “No, go away.”

“You’re crying,” the kid said earnestly. He shook him again and Matt wanted to puke. “Are you lost? I got lost here too, but I know how to get out now, do you wanna get out? Huh?”

Matt could _feel_ his own composure breaking down. “ _Yeah…_ ” Another couple of tears leaked out.

“Okay, okay, follow me!”

He moved off but Matt stayed where he was, afraid that in the press of things he would lose his guide, and be left off worse. The kid crawled back in after a minute. “Why didn’t you follow?”

Matt clenched his hands in the sleeves of his shirt. “I can’t see.”

The kid was quiet for a bit, and Matt could feel the air in front of his face move as the kid waved his hands in front of his face. “…you’re blind.” The kid said wonderingly.

Matt tensed more, but the other didn’t push it, grabbing at his hand. “Hold my hand, okay? That way we won’t get lost.”

“…okay.”

The kid’s hand was wide and soft, chubby fingers clinging hard. Matt could feel the remnant crumbs of food on his palms but decided not to say anything. He pulled Matt out of the cubby and into the main tube, and to the right. They crawled slowly, keeping close, and the kid never once let go of his hand. After a few turns and cautious steps down in what Matt recognized was the wide room in the center of the tube maze, the kid stopped. There was someone ahead.

“Hey we need to get through,” the kid called.

“Get lost, fatty, this is my spot.” Someone growled back. He sounded older.

“You’re in front of the slide, we can’t!” Matt’s rescuer protested.

“Get _lost._ ” The other snapped back.

“We have to get _through_.” The kid kept on saying, and Matt wanted to say something through but he didn’t know what.

There was a soft rattle of tubes and the older kid stretched out to take up more space. “ _Make_ me, you baby.”

Matt thought for a second it was over, they would go back and try to find another way, when suddenly the hand leading him pulled away and his rescuer _lunged_ forward with a mighty huff. There was a louder rattle and the older kid yelped as the push got him off balance and he fell down into the slide all the way to the bottom. Matt hoped vindictively it was the twisty one and he _puked_ at the bottom. A hand slid into his again and tugged at him; not far beyond the slide the kid guided him a step down into a wide triangular platform. Matt reached out and felt mesh. This was one of the ways up, they must be on the top platform. Away from the enclosed space of the tubes he felt like he could breathe easier. The smells were softer here and he felt the tightness in his chest ease up. He sighed, leaning against the mesh.

The kid didn’t go away as he expected, he sat down next to Matt. “Do you wanna get down? I can help.”

Matt sighed again, quietly. “No, I think I want to sit here.”

“Okay, I’ll sit with you too.” There was a loud crinkle in Matt’s ears as the kid pulled something out of his pockets; his nose wrinkled as the strong scent of fake cheddar reached him. “Do you want some Cheetos?”

“I hate Cheetos.” Matt muttered.

The kid didn’t seem to mind, digging in happily enough. It stank, but Matt didn’t mind so much now. He breathed in deep, and caught the scent of his dad’s denim jacket, old and worn and soaked in the cologne he used to wear before Matt went blind and things got tougher. He heard his heartbeat and relaxed a bit more. In the year since the accident, there was one thing he could recognize beyond anything else on Earth: his dad.

He tried to do what his dad said, and focus like he did on his homework. The kid next to him was round and fat, and beyond the stink of pizza and Cheetos he smelled cake and frosting. Maybe this was his birthday party. Matt tangled his fingers in the mesh. “What’s your name?”

“Foggy.”

Matt made a face. “That’s not a name.”

“It’s my nickname.” Foggy said proudly with his mouth full. “What about you?”

“Matt.” He paused. “Thanks. For helping me.”

“No problem.” Foggy paused, then sounded excited. “Hey you wanna come down with me? It’s my birthday party but it’s just me and my dad, mom and sister, you want to play games with me? I got lots of coins because it’s my party.”

Matt almost cracked a smile. He couldn’t remember the last time he had played the games here with someone else than himself. And Foggy seemed nice. Even if he smelled.

“Sure.”

**Author's Note:**

> The older kid by the slide was Fisk and I want him to fall down three holes. He did puke at the bottom of the slide and I laugh.


End file.
